What is the Difference Between a Gerund and a Present Participle

What is the difference between a gerund and a present participle?

Both a gerund and a present participle come from a verb, and both end in –ing. However, each has a different function. A gerund acts like a noun while a present participle acts like a verb or adjective.

Example: snowboarding

Snowboarding is fun (gerund). He is snowboarding (past participle).

Snowboarding can be a gerund or a present participle.

When snowboarding is a gerund, it acts like a noun. It can be a subject, an object, the object of a preposition, or a subject complement.

Snowboarding is a winter sport. [snowboarding = subject]

I love snowboarding. [snowboarding = object ]

I am excited by snowboarding. [snowboarding = object of a preposition]

One popular sport is snowboarding. [snowboarding = subject complement]

When snowboarding is a present participle, it is part of a continuous verb tense.

Right now, the athlete is snowboarding. [issnowboarding = present continuous]